Sunday, July 03, 2016

Global stock markets rally as Brexit fears abate - "Some investors say last week's sell-off was overdone, while others are betting on central banks to rescue the global economy if needed with more stimulus. "It never was the end of the world," said strategist Jeff Weniger. The senior portfolio strategist at BMO Private Bank in Chicago. said: "To have these kinds of reactions was ridiculous.""Markets always overreact

Former Bank chief Lord King said that, over the campaign, the Remain camp had treated those considering a Leave vote like 'idiots'.

Lord King – governor of the Bank for a decade – said voters had not been impressed by scaremongering. 'This was the most dispiriting campaign I can recall in my lifetime,' he told the BBC. 'I think the Government has to take responsibility for setting the tone for that. 'I do think that they said things which were not easy to sustain or support. It's true there was a great deal of uncertainty about the outcome in economic terms. That would have been enough perhaps to have made their case. 'But it went way beyond that in making claims about the precise numbers that could be used to say how much our living standards might fall. 'We had all kinds of scare stories. I was travelling round the UK a lot at that time and I was struck by how many people said to me they didn't like the scaremongering tactics, they didn't like to be told that if they were to vote to leave they would be idiots. If you say to someone, 'You are an idiot if you don't agree with me,' you are not likely to bring them in your direction.'"

Who is Jeremy Corbyn: British Bernie Sanders or rumpled revolutionary? - "To their critics, particularly among Democratic and Labour party leaders, Corbyn and Sanders also share a dangerous stubborn streak. By refusing to compromise their beliefs, these cantankerous old class-warriors risk are splitting the progressive majority at a time when it needs to be unified against the xenophobic populism of the right... There may be lessons for Sanders in the likely defenestration of Corbyn at the hands of his party MPs. Both figures have never been popular with their party elites – Sanders sits in the Senate as in independent, not a Democrat – and have regarded those elites in turn as undemocratic reactionaries. But the failure of Corbyn to even last out the year as leader of his party sends a worrying signal."

Police: Hate Crime Has NOT 'Surged by 57 Per Cent' Since Brexit - "Assistant Chief Constable Mark Hamilton clarified that while reporting of hate crimes had risen via an online form, there was no evidence to suggest that this was uniquely related to a Brexit vote, nor that the crimes have actually been committed."

The Big Problem With Outlawing Gender Conversion Therapies - "Can we respect the expressions of gender-crossing children without being so “affirming” of their declarations that we accidentally steer them to a transgender path they might otherwise not want or need to take?... under this bill’s current form, if a seven-year-old male said he feels he’s a girl, then the clinician would have to effectively accept that he’s a girl. If the child indicates a belief that s/he’s a straight girl, then even if the clinician thinks the patient might be a gay boy—that the child might, with good familial and social support, grow up to be a well-adjusted gay man without the need for sex-altering surgeries or lifelong hormone replacement therapy—the clinician must not “change or direct” the child’s understanding. But by not “changing or directing” the child’s understanding—by “affirming” a “transgender” identity as soon as it appears—the clinician might actually be stimulating and cementing a transgender identity... being transgender generally comes with non-trivial medical interventions, including hormonal and surgical"

Is There a Link Between Anorexia and Narcissism? - "Joan Bakewell, an eminent member of the UK House of Lords, is apologising for comments she made linking anorexia to narcissism... Kathryn Gordon and Joseph Dombeck from the Department of Psychology, North Dakota State University, with an academic interest in eating disorders, open their study on the subject with the comment: ‘The literature consistently reports a link between narcissism and eating disorder symptoms’."

Malaysia's first sharia-compliant airline suspended: Official - "Malaysia's first Islamic-compliant airline has been suspended for three months after it failed to adhere to aviation regulations... "Rayani Air has been suspended for three months"... Muslim flight crew don the hijab while non-Muslim crew are forbidden from wearing revealing clothing on board the airline, which launched last December. In-flight meals are completely halal and alcohol consumption is strictly banned... the carrier had drawn increasing criticism from passengers and the government due to last-minute delays and cancellations. Pilots of the carrier, which operates two Boeing 737-400s, had gone on strike, further damaging its image... Liow also expressed disappointment at Rayani's conduct despite previous warnings over "poor procedures and service level"."

The real reason Rayani Air went kaput - "For an airline, shariah compliance doesn’t just mean banning alcohol, serving halal food, requiring flight crew to cover their aurat, and conducting prayers before take-off. Islamic principles go far beyond that, and require that you:
Keep your promises – take off and land on time, as pledged to customers
Be trustworthy and fair – do not cancel flights without sufficient notice, explanation and apology
Be dependable – alternative arrangements should be offered if flights are cancelled.
Follow procedures and be professional – no handwritten boarding passes!
Never be deceitful – do not give customers false information.
Never break the law – don’t leave staff with no option but to go on strike
Practice good leadership – pay staff wages on time.
Be accountable – never blame others for your own shortcomings...
Maybe this is a sign from Allah, warning us not to misuse religion for personal gain. Maybe this is God’s way of telling us not to use religion as a marketing gimmick – in which case, you could consider the airline’s failure as the result of the Almighty’s wrath (I’m just saying)."

Woman given a discharge over son's death as she was of unsound mind then - "The woman who allegedly drowned her 17-month-old son in the sea off East Coast Park was given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal on Tuesday. Lim Ann Nee was found to be suffering from "acute transient psychotic disorder" at the time of the alleged offence on Nov 25, 2013. The 45-year-old woman was originally charged with murdering her son, Emilien Lacroix, but the charge was amended to culpable homicide last August. She was released on bail after being remanded for about eight months."

20,000 lesbians in the desert: welcome to the Dinah, a world without men - "Butch, femme, old, young, gold stars, bi, black, white, hardcore, normcore – the Dinah attracts a diverse group. There’s a sense of liberation and a tacit understanding that what happens in Dinah stays in Dinah (unless it ends up on Facebook). “Flashing is normal,” Charlotte, 24, told me. “I get flashed at a lot.” Random girls pulling you into their hotel rooms are also pretty standard. One year, there was a minor earthquake in Palm Springs. Debbie, a Dinah veteran who has attended every event since 1991, recalls that half the water splashed out of the pool. Most of the girls were too drunk to realize or care... Bacardi, Bud Lite, Smirnoff and Barefoot Wines are all big sponsors this year. Bacardi and Bud have sent teams of scantily clad promo girls (most of whom are straight) who hand out swag, pose for photos and generally act a little gay for pay. While it’s normally irritating to get relentlessly advertised to, in this case it’s a sign of progress. You’re not a real human until you’re recognized by corporate America... Today it’s estimated that almost half the population of Palm Springs are gay, and it has the highest per capita gay population in the US, if not the world"

The ‘Wage Gap’ Myth That Won’t Die - WSJ - "Time magazine reported in 2010 that in 98% of America’s largest 150 cities, including my hometown of Los Angeles, single women under 30 actually earned, on average, 8% more than their male counterparts... What California’s Fair Pay Act will do, however, is make the state, already notorious for regulation and red tape, a more difficult place to do business. Companies must now ensure that every penny of wage differential between the men and women they employ is attributable to bona-fide differences in education, training, experience, quantity or quality of work, and so on. Referring to the countless factors at play, Harvard economist Claudia Goldin has said “it’s not checkable.” Yet even attempting to do so will only add to companies’ already substantial regulatory-compliance budgets. Some of these factors—quality of work, for instance—are inevitably subjective, yet trial lawyers will swoop in to turn every conceivable pay difference into a lawsuit. Employers who cannot “prove” objectively that one employee’s work was better than another’s may face costly penalties. Many will surely pay to settle these lawsuits instead of taking them to court... Ms. Goldin has even suggested that women’s employment could decline"

Halal ship kitchens difficult but SAF offers food options - "While halal-certified kitchens can be provided on military camps, this is not possible on board naval ships, where space is a premium and has to be prioritised for operational needs. But provisions are made for servicemen - whether Muslim or those with other dietary requirements - so they have food options... Dr Maliki said this practice is similar to that in French and American navies, whose ships do not have separate halal kitchens. "SAF (Singapore Armed Forces) will accommodate where we can, but the SAF's operational priorities come before individual needs. Our servicemen and women understand and accept this"... Mr Faisal Manap (Aljunied GRC) had called for navy vessels to be equipped with halal-certified kitchens. This was a "practical issue" which he said should be resolved promptly, so as not to deprive Muslim Singaporeans the opportunity to serve on board ships. In reply, Dr Maliki said provisions are made for Muslim naval servicemen through options such as seafood, chicken and vegetables. But having a halal-certified kitchen was not possible, he said, as space has to be maximised for operational requirements such as ammunition and combat systems... "I would like to remind Mr Faisal that Singapore is a secular state and all Singaporeans enjoy the right to practise their religion under our Constitution"Will Muslims complain if they're forced to eat vegetarian food?

Allure of paid sex for teenage boys - "Adrian (not his real name), a 21-year-old, has had sex with prostitutes while holidaying in Bangkok. His friends took him to a Geylang brothel and paid for his first sexual encounter when he was 14 or 15. He has friends who go to Johor Baru regularly to "have fun, as everything from food to prostitutes" is cheaper there. Adrian, who is waiting to enter polytechnic and says he has stopped visiting prostitutes, added: "The holidays are to chill and to drink, not specifically to have sex. But when it's all boys going on holiday, sex somehow becomes part of the package."

Sexuality education 'helps cut infection rate' - ""I find that teens' attitudes towards sex these days are a lot more blase. Some are even having sex with casual friends whom they are not in a relationship with," said Dr Tan. "It's like meeting up to have sex these days is almost as casual as meeting up for a game of tennis.""

Five Nights in Pyongyang, fiction or not? - "I also don’t think an established news organization based in Shanghai would run their website from the United States on what could be a single virtual server or worse, shared hosting. Plus, a news outfit that had been operating since 1972 (as they’ve claimed in their about page) would’ve gone through what other publications have gone through from the onset of the WWW-era to present and must’ve already gone online for some time now."

Global stock markets rally as Brexit fears abate - "Some investors say last week's sell-off was overdone, while others are betting on central banks to rescue the global economy if needed with more stimulus. "It never was the end of the world," said strategist Jeff Weniger. The senior portfolio strategist at BMO Private Bank in Chicago. said: "To have these kinds of reactions was ridiculous.""Markets always overreact

Former Bank chief Lord King said that, over the campaign, the Remain camp had treated those considering a Leave vote like 'idiots'.

Lord King – governor of the Bank for a decade – said voters had not been impressed by scaremongering. 'This was the most dispiriting campaign I can recall in my lifetime,' he told the BBC. 'I think the Government has to take responsibility for setting the tone for that. 'I do think that they said things which were not easy to sustain or support. It's true there was a great deal of uncertainty about the outcome in economic terms. That would have been enough perhaps to have made their case. 'But it went way beyond that in making claims about the precise numbers that could be used to say how much our living standards might fall. 'We had all kinds of scare stories. I was travelling round the UK a lot at that time and I was struck by how many people said to me they didn't like the scaremongering tactics, they didn't like to be told that if they were to vote to leave they would be idiots. If you say to someone, 'You are an idiot if you don't agree with me,' you are not likely to bring them in your direction.'"

Who is Jeremy Corbyn: British Bernie Sanders or rumpled revolutionary? - "To their critics, particularly among Democratic and Labour party leaders, Corbyn and Sanders also share a dangerous stubborn streak. By refusing to compromise their beliefs, these cantankerous old class-warriors risk are splitting the progressive majority at a time when it needs to be unified against the xenophobic populism of the right... There may be lessons for Sanders in the likely defenestration of Corbyn at the hands of his party MPs. Both figures have never been popular with their party elites – Sanders sits in the Senate as in independent, not a Democrat – and have regarded those elites in turn as undemocratic reactionaries. But the failure of Corbyn to even last out the year as leader of his party sends a worrying signal."

Police: Hate Crime Has NOT 'Surged by 57 Per Cent' Since Brexit - "Assistant Chief Constable Mark Hamilton clarified that while reporting of hate crimes had risen via an online form, there was no evidence to suggest that this was uniquely related to a Brexit vote, nor that the crimes have actually been committed."

The Big Problem With Outlawing Gender Conversion Therapies - "Can we respect the expressions of gender-crossing children without being so “affirming” of their declarations that we accidentally steer them to a transgender path they might otherwise not want or need to take?... under this bill’s current form, if a seven-year-old male said he feels he’s a girl, then the clinician would have to effectively accept that he’s a girl. If the child indicates a belief that s/he’s a straight girl, then even if the clinician thinks the patient might be a gay boy—that the child might, with good familial and social support, grow up to be a well-adjusted gay man without the need for sex-altering surgeries or lifelong hormone replacement therapy—the clinician must not “change or direct” the child’s understanding. But by not “changing or directing” the child’s understanding—by “affirming” a “transgender” identity as soon as it appears—the clinician might actually be stimulating and cementing a transgender identity... being transgender generally comes with non-trivial medical interventions, including hormonal and surgical"

Is There a Link Between Anorexia and Narcissism? - "Joan Bakewell, an eminent member of the UK House of Lords, is apologising for comments she made linking anorexia to narcissism... Kathryn Gordon and Joseph Dombeck from the Department of Psychology, North Dakota State University, with an academic interest in eating disorders, open their study on the subject with the comment: ‘The literature consistently reports a link between narcissism and eating disorder symptoms’."

Malaysia's first sharia-compliant airline suspended: Official - "Malaysia's first Islamic-compliant airline has been suspended for three months after it failed to adhere to aviation regulations... "Rayani Air has been suspended for three months"... Muslim flight crew don the hijab while non-Muslim crew are forbidden from wearing revealing clothing on board the airline, which launched last December. In-flight meals are completely halal and alcohol consumption is strictly banned... the carrier had drawn increasing criticism from passengers and the government due to last-minute delays and cancellations. Pilots of the carrier, which operates two Boeing 737-400s, had gone on strike, further damaging its image... Liow also expressed disappointment at Rayani's conduct despite previous warnings over "poor procedures and service level"."

The real reason Rayani Air went kaput - "For an airline, shariah compliance doesn’t just mean banning alcohol, serving halal food, requiring flight crew to cover their aurat, and conducting prayers before take-off. Islamic principles go far beyond that, and require that you:
Keep your promises – take off and land on time, as pledged to customers
Be trustworthy and fair – do not cancel flights without sufficient notice, explanation and apology
Be dependable – alternative arrangements should be offered if flights are cancelled.
Follow procedures and be professional – no handwritten boarding passes!
Never be deceitful – do not give customers false information.
Never break the law – don’t leave staff with no option but to go on strike
Practice good leadership – pay staff wages on time.
Be accountable – never blame others for your own shortcomings...
Maybe this is a sign from Allah, warning us not to misuse religion for personal gain. Maybe this is God’s way of telling us not to use religion as a marketing gimmick – in which case, you could consider the airline’s failure as the result of the Almighty’s wrath (I’m just saying)."

Woman given a discharge over son's death as she was of unsound mind then - "The woman who allegedly drowned her 17-month-old son in the sea off East Coast Park was given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal on Tuesday. Lim Ann Nee was found to be suffering from "acute transient psychotic disorder" at the time of the alleged offence on Nov 25, 2013. The 45-year-old woman was originally charged with murdering her son, Emilien Lacroix, but the charge was amended to culpable homicide last August. She was released on bail after being remanded for about eight months."

20,000 lesbians in the desert: welcome to the Dinah, a world without men - "Butch, femme, old, young, gold stars, bi, black, white, hardcore, normcore – the Dinah attracts a diverse group. There’s a sense of liberation and a tacit understanding that what happens in Dinah stays in Dinah (unless it ends up on Facebook). “Flashing is normal,” Charlotte, 24, told me. “I get flashed at a lot.” Random girls pulling you into their hotel rooms are also pretty standard. One year, there was a minor earthquake in Palm Springs. Debbie, a Dinah veteran who has attended every event since 1991, recalls that half the water splashed out of the pool. Most of the girls were too drunk to realize or care... Bacardi, Bud Lite, Smirnoff and Barefoot Wines are all big sponsors this year. Bacardi and Bud have sent teams of scantily clad promo girls (most of whom are straight) who hand out swag, pose for photos and generally act a little gay for pay. While it’s normally irritating to get relentlessly advertised to, in this case it’s a sign of progress. You’re not a real human until you’re recognized by corporate America... Today it’s estimated that almost half the population of Palm Springs are gay, and it has the highest per capita gay population in the US, if not the world"

The ‘Wage Gap’ Myth That Won’t Die - WSJ - "Time magazine reported in 2010 that in 98% of America’s largest 150 cities, including my hometown of Los Angeles, single women under 30 actually earned, on average, 8% more than their male counterparts... What California’s Fair Pay Act will do, however, is make the state, already notorious for regulation and red tape, a more difficult place to do business. Companies must now ensure that every penny of wage differential between the men and women they employ is attributable to bona-fide differences in education, training, experience, quantity or quality of work, and so on. Referring to the countless factors at play, Harvard economist Claudia Goldin has said “it’s not checkable.” Yet even attempting to do so will only add to companies’ already substantial regulatory-compliance budgets. Some of these factors—quality of work, for instance—are inevitably subjective, yet trial lawyers will swoop in to turn every conceivable pay difference into a lawsuit. Employers who cannot “prove” objectively that one employee’s work was better than another’s may face costly penalties. Many will surely pay to settle these lawsuits instead of taking them to court... Ms. Goldin has even suggested that women’s employment could decline"

Halal ship kitchens difficult but SAF offers food options - "While halal-certified kitchens can be provided on military camps, this is not possible on board naval ships, where space is a premium and has to be prioritised for operational needs. But provisions are made for servicemen - whether Muslim or those with other dietary requirements - so they have food options... Dr Maliki said this practice is similar to that in French and American navies, whose ships do not have separate halal kitchens. "SAF (Singapore Armed Forces) will accommodate where we can, but the SAF's operational priorities come before individual needs. Our servicemen and women understand and accept this"... Mr Faisal Manap (Aljunied GRC) had called for navy vessels to be equipped with halal-certified kitchens. This was a "practical issue" which he said should be resolved promptly, so as not to deprive Muslim Singaporeans the opportunity to serve on board ships. In reply, Dr Maliki said provisions are made for Muslim naval servicemen through options such as seafood, chicken and vegetables. But having a halal-certified kitchen was not possible, he said, as space has to be maximised for operational requirements such as ammunition and combat systems... "I would like to remind Mr Faisal that Singapore is a secular state and all Singaporeans enjoy the right to practise their religion under our Constitution"Will Muslims complain if they're forced to eat vegetarian food?

Allure of paid sex for teenage boys - "Adrian (not his real name), a 21-year-old, has had sex with prostitutes while holidaying in Bangkok. His friends took him to a Geylang brothel and paid for his first sexual encounter when he was 14 or 15. He has friends who go to Johor Baru regularly to "have fun, as everything from food to prostitutes" is cheaper there. Adrian, who is waiting to enter polytechnic and says he has stopped visiting prostitutes, added: "The holidays are to chill and to drink, not specifically to have sex. But when it's all boys going on holiday, sex somehow becomes part of the package."

Sexuality education 'helps cut infection rate' - ""I find that teens' attitudes towards sex these days are a lot more blase. Some are even having sex with casual friends whom they are not in a relationship with," said Dr Tan. "It's like meeting up to have sex these days is almost as casual as meeting up for a game of tennis.""

Five Nights in Pyongyang, fiction or not? - "I also don’t think an established news organization based in Shanghai would run their website from the United States on what could be a single virtual server or worse, shared hosting. Plus, a news outfit that had been operating since 1972 (as they’ve claimed in their about page) would’ve gone through what other publications have gone through from the onset of the WWW-era to present and must’ve already gone online for some time now."